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The are many, many variations of lasagne recipes but the basic idea
is to alternate sheets of pasta with a filling, normally beef based but
often fish or vegetarian.
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One thing all these lasagne recipes have in common is
that they taste 10 times better than the shop bought ones and you have
the assurance that you know exactly what went into your lasagne!
KEY POINTS
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Preparation Time: |
25 mins |
Cooking Time: |
1 hour |
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How Difficult |
Difficult |
Freeze? |
Yes |
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Servings |
4 portions |
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INGREDIENTS
The ingredients below will make enough for 4
servings. Serve with a salad.
Illustration only, rely on the ingredients list below!
| Ingredients for Lasagne |
Imperial |
Metric |
| Lasagne sheets |
12 ounces |
340 g |
| Minced beef |
8 ounces |
230 g |
| Large can of chopped tomatoes |
14 ounces |
400 g |
| 1 medium onion |
- |
- |
| 1 medium carrot |
- |
- |
| 2 garlic cloves |
- |
- |
| 1 teaspoon fresh oregano (or ½ teaspoon dried) |
- |
- |
| 1 heaped teaspoon tomato purée |
- |
- |
| 1 glass white wine |
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| Chicken stock (1 cube) |
½ pint |
280 ml |
| 5 tablespoons olive oil |
- |
- |
| Salt and pepper |
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| Ingredients for Cheese Sauce (Bechamal) |
Imperial |
Metric |
| Butter |
2 ounces |
55 g |
| Plain flour |
2 ounces |
55 g |
| Cheddar cheese |
4 ounces |
115 g |
| Spinach or Broccoli |
4 ounces |
115 g |
| Bay leaf |
1 |
1 |
| Milk |
1 pint |
560 ml |
| Double cream |
2 tablespoons |
2 tablespoons |
| Whole black peppercorns |
10 |
10 |
COOKING EQUIPMENT
Ovenproof dish - ours was 25cm x 18cm and 5cm deep.
1 medium frying pan
2 small / medium saucepans for the Béchamel sauce
1 large saucepan for the lasagne pasta
PREPARATION
Peel and finely chop the onion.
Peel and crush the garlic cloves.
Peel and finely chop the carrot.
Grate the cheese.
If using broccoli, cut the top (florets) off and finely chop it.
Grease the ovenproof dish.
Method For Lasagne
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Prepare the ingredients before starting:
Peel and finely chop the onion.
Peel and crush the garlic cloves.
Peel and finely chop the carrot.
Grate the cheese.
If using broccoli rather than spinach, cut the top (florets) off and finely chop them. |
| Add two (not all five) tablespoons of olive oil to
the frying pan on a medium heat. When it's warmed (a minute or so
depending on the pan) add the garlic and onions. Cook for 4 to 5
minutes until the onions are light brown. Add the carrots, oregano
and the minced beef. |
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Break up the mince as it fries - a wooden spoon
makes an easy job of this.
Keep turning the ingredients to ensure they are all cooked. The
idea is for all of the mince to turn brown which should take around
five to six minutes. |
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Add the chopped tomatoes, tomato purée, wine and stock to the frying
pan. Add salt and pepper to your taste. Mix the contents of the
frying pan well. On a medium heat (the mixture should be just, but
only just bubbling) cook for around 45 minutes. This will reduce the
mixture to something like bolognaise sauce thickness. Stir
occasionally during the cooking. |
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About 15 minutes before the minced beef is cooked
start to make the Béchamel sauce. Melt the butter in a saucepan over
a low to medium heat then slowly add in the flour stirring all the
time a fork. The mixture you have now is called 'roux'. At the same
time pour the milk into another saucepan, add the bay leaf and
peppercorns and
gently bring to the boil (stirring frequently). |
It gets a bit busy now! At the same time as cooking the Béchamel sauce,
cook the lasagne past sheets according to the packet instructions, this
normally involves boiling the pasta sheets for 6 minutes or so.
A word of advice at this stage. Some packets of pasta sheets claim
they can be used straight from the pack, it certainly didn't work for
us! The pasta sheets in the pictures below were boiled as normal.
Without boiling, the pasta sheets remained tough and a bit cardboard
like.
A second piece of advice; when cooking the pasta, add 3 generous
tablespoons of olive oil (it's included in the ingredients list). This
should go some way to stopping the pasta from sticking together and
forming a congealed mass. Keep stirring and separating the pasta as it
boils to help as well. Be prepared to use the pasta as soon as it's
cooked. This is not difficult because the sauce and minced beef mixture
can stand for a few minutes if the pasta is still cooking
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Immediately the milk starts to bubble remove it from the heat.
Slowly pour the milk (without the bay leaf or peppercorns) into the butter and flour mix (roux) stirring
or whisking continuously. Add the cream and mix in well. Split the
mixture in half into the two pans. Add 85 g / 3 oz the grated cheese
(not all of it) to one pan and the spinach / broccoli to the other.
Stir both and season with a little salt and pepper. |
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Start the oven off at 180°C / 350°F / Gas Mark 4.
Spoon half the spinach / broccoli mixture into the base of the
greased ovenproof dish and spread it out evenly. Cover the mixture
with lasagne pasta (one sheet deep). Spread half the minced beef
mixture evenly over the pasta and cover with another layer of pasta. |
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Spread the remaining spinach / broccoli mixture over the pasta and
cover with another layer of pasta. Add the remaining minced beef
mixture over the pasta, and spread it out evenly. |
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Finally, add another layer of pasta and cover it
with the cheese sauce mixture. Spread it out evenly and then
sprinkle the remainder of the grated cheese over the top. Place it
in the middle of the preheated oven and cook for around 30 minutes
until the top has turned golden brown as in the picture below. |
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Lasagne can be eaten on its own because it already has pasta,
tomatoes and carrots in the ingredients. But it does go very nicely
with a lettuce and tomato salad. |
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CLICK HERE FOR MORE ITALIAN RECIPES
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